著者

Key Margaret

出版者

国文学研究資料館

雑誌

国際日本文学研究集会会議録 = PROCEEDINGS OF INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON JAPANESE LITERATURE (ISSN:ISSN0387)

巻号頁・発行日

no.25, pp.39-48, 2002-03-01

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Critics have frequently noted Abe Kôbô's technique of building a story around a single concrete object, such as a mask or a map, used metaphorically. What is often overlooked, however, is that in many of Abe's novels the object functions not merely as a concrete representation of a certain theme within the novel, but also as a meta-fictional representation of the text itself, in particular, of the relationship between the reader and the text. The central object in Hako otoko is a cardboard box with a peephole, whose formal characteristics give rise to the novel's central thematic of seeing and being seen and of concealing and revealing. At the meta-fictional level, the box is manifested as a three-dimensional puzzle box, or "Chinese box," reflecting the complex narrative structure of multiple, overlapping plots. By focusing on the figure of the box as puzzle or mystery, this paper will consider Hako otoko as an anti-detective novel: a novel that frustrates the reader's desire to solve the mystery of the text. I will discuss the mysteries hidden within the box at the textual and meta-fictional levels and their ultimate indeterminability.In Hako otoko the reader's desire is directed at uncovering the identity of the box man who writes, “Inside my box, I am writing a record of a box man.” As the narrative progresses, however, the reader realizes not only that the box man is a murderer, but also that he is writing the text that the reader is reading in order to conceal evidence of the murder. Consequently, the mystery of the man inside the box becomes, at the meta-fictional level, the mystery of the man outside the box, that is, the author of the text. By examining Abe's use of elements of detective fiction, such as the search for the solution to a mystery and the revelation of hidden truths, both within the narrative and in the interaction between the reader and the text, this paper will bring attention to the meta-fictional nature of Abe's literary project.